2004 Detroit Auto Show: Land Rover To Unveil First Ever
Concept

Land Rover makes history at the North American International
Auto Show in Detroit, by unveiling its first ever concept show
car, the Range Stormer.

The Range Stormer is a high performance, sports tourer SUV
concept car, which showcases a future design direction for Land
Rover. It also previews a new production model that will enter
a fresh market segment for the company and will be an
additional model line in the Land Rover portfolio.

Commenting on the new concept, Land Rover's managing
director Matthew Taylor, said: "The supercharged V8 Range
Stormer gives a taste of our forthcoming new entrant in the
booming high performance SUV segment. The production vehicle
that follows will share many of its styling and technical
innovations. It is very much conceived to be an on-road,
performance machine, as well as class-leading off-road like all
Land Rovers."

Geoff Upex, design director at Land Rover, added: "The
challenge was to translate fundamental Land Rover design values
into a concept for a high performance machine that looks
powerful, muscular and edgy. We certainly want to challenge
established views of our vehicles, but the Range Stormer is
still clearly an authentic Land Rover."

Future technologies previewed with the concept include an
all-new platform that will be the basis for future full-size
Land Rover models. This advanced, integrated platform, unique
to Land Rover, will provide the underpinnings for the
production vehicle inspired by the Range Stormer.

Another major innovation showcased is Terrain Response. This
smart and simple-to-use new Land Rover technology delivers the
best possible on- and off-road composure and control by
optimising the entire vehicle set-up, including suspension,
powertrain, throttle response and traction control.

The driver simply selects the appropriate Terrain Response
setting from the six available and the vehicle does the rest,
using technology that offers a choice of settings from
'dynamic' for high speed work to 'deep ruts' for extreme
off-roading.

Matthew Taylor concluded: "You'll be seeing an increasing
amount of innovative technology in future Land Rovers. But
technology that makes the driver's task simpler not more
complicated, such as Terrain Response."

The Range Stormer was completed with the support of
suppliers Alps (electronic systems), Hella (interior and
exterior lights), Alcoa (22" forged alloy wheels) and Goodyear
(custom made tyres).